Belladonna recalls Anthrax sacking

Singer says band wanted a more 90s style vocalist when they brought in John Bush

Shares

Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna recalls his sacking from the band in 1992 – saying they wanted a vocalist with a “bit more of a growl.”

He was replaced by John Bush, but made a return in 2010 after Bush’s second spell came to an end. Asked why he thought was was ousted in the first place, Belladonna says he puts it down to the band wanting a different vocal style – but he still doesn’t quite understand why.

He tells Somewhat Legendary: “They wanted something different, that’s all I can tell you. They wanted something with a little bit more of a growl, a grunt – the 90s thing. And they just pushed aside whatever clean and tenor I had. It just didn’t fit. Whatever, what are you gonna do?

“Sometimes maybe I was a little too clean for everybody. I mean, look at the times where Anthrax didn’t feel I was right for their band, which was shocking to me, because I thought we had a cool thing. And obviously, you can see we’re carrying on now. So you get confused, what I used to do and how it wasn’t right, at one time, for them.”